Vent means to vary buoyancy of a flush valve



W, L.. SIMPN jm. MB, W65

VENT MEANS TO VARY BUOYANCY 0F' A FLUSH VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledDas. ILD1 i962 R. l... sxMPsoN 3,165,756 VENT MEANS T0 VARY BUOYANCY OFA FLUSH VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1962 United States PatentO Ei,l65,756 VENT MEANS T@ VARY BUYANCY (EF A FLUSH VALVE Robert L.Simpson, RFD. l, Farmington, Conn. Filed Dec. 12, 1962, Ser. No.244,214. 9 Claims. (Cl. 4-57) This invention relates to a water closettank discharge valve of the hollow ball type and more particularly to anauxiliary valve means for affecting the buoyancy of the tank ball tocontrol the quantity of water discharged from the tank.

Tanks generally used for storing tiush water are provided with a floatcontrolled water inlet valve to determine the quantity of water to beused in flushing and to maintain that level in the tank. Also providedin such tanks is a hollow ball type discharge valve, which ball is openat the bottom and may have either a spherical or conical valve seatengaging surface surrounding the bottom opening. This surface is adaptedto engage an annular seat which forms the upper end oi the water closetdischarge outlet. Air is retained in the ball as in an air bell, thebuoyancy of the ball in the tank tending to float it on the tank water.Once the ball has been manualiy unseated, it will tend to lloat in thetank water, only returning to its annular valve seat when substantiallyall the water has been discharged from the tank. As the makeup water isintroduced by means of the float valve, the pressure thereof seats thetank ball sealing off the discharge outlet. Water pressure will hold thetank ball in this closed position until it is again unseated by manualactuation of a handle or the like used to flush the water closet bowl.An upper end portion of the tank ball is connected by mechanical linkageto the handle for this purpose.

, Thus, it will be apparent that in every flushing operationsubstantially all the tank Water is consumed and delivered to the watercloset bowl without regard to the quantity required to ush the wasteproducts from the bowl.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliaryvalve means to limit water used for waste disposal to that actuallyrequired.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive ball valve whichincorporates such an auxiliary valve thereupon and which ball valve maybe easily installed in existing Water closet tanks.

The drawings show preferred embodiments of the invention and suchembodiments will be described, but it will be understood that variouschanges may be made from the constructions disclosed, and that thedrawings and description are not to be construed as defining or limitingthe scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of thisspecification being relied upon for that purpose.

Ot the drawings:

FIG. l is a front View, partly in section, of a water closet tank with adischarge valve of the hollow ball variety incorporating the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the ball and lift rod of FIG. 1showing the parts of an auxiliary valve of the present invention in aclosed position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 except that theV Patented Jan. i9,i965 ICC in a manner well understood in the art. Another well knownfeature of a water closet, also omitted from the drawings for purposesof clarity, :is the float valve mechanisin for introducing make-up waterinto the tank and maintaining it at a desired level. A conventionaloverflow tube 16 is shown supported at its lower end by a hollow tlangemember Ztl adapted to carry oil excess water in the event of ioat valvefailure or the like, and it mounts a guide bracket LS for the operatinglinkage to the ball valve to be described.

An upper end portion of the tank discharge outlet l2, best shown in FIG.2, forms a conical seat 22 to receive a ball valve 24. The ball valvecomprises the discharge valve for the water closet tank lil and isconnected by operating means to a rotatable external handle 26 on thefront of the tank as shown in FIG. l. The means for operating the ballvalve 24 includes a lever 28 rigidly attached to an internal part of thehandle inside the tank, a vertically arranged link 36 pivotallyconnected at its upper end to the free end of the lever 23, and a liftrod 32 connected to the upper end of the tank ball 24 and to the lowerend of the link 30 by means of an eye 34 formed at its upper end. Thesaid lift rod extends through the guide i8 to control vertical movementof the ball 24 and to keep it generally centered over the outlet 12.

The tank ball 24 is preferably formed of rubber or other elasticmaterial and is hollow as shown with an opening at the bottom thereof toadmit air therein causing said ball to be buoyant. The ball furthercomprises upper and lower conically shaped sections 36 and 33respectively, the latter of which is of suitable Siae to assuresatisfactory sealing of the ball in the outlet 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end 4i) of the tank ball is of cylindricalsection and defines an opening 42 therein which is in communication withthe hollow interior of said tank ball. The outer edge of the opening 42forms a valve seat for an auxiliary valve 44 comprising a valve disc 46threadably received on the lower end of the lift rod 32 and adapted toseal the opening 42 when seated as shown in FIG. 2. The valve disc 46 isconnected to a valve stem 48 which is loosely received in .the` opening42 and which carries a compressive spring Sil arranged to maintain thevalve disc 46 in a closed position. As shown, one end of the spring St)seats against a clip type fastener 52 received by circumferential slots54, 54 in the valve stem 4S and the other end of the spring Eil actsagainst the upper end of the tank ball 24, engaging the hollowcylindrical insert S6.

Arresting means S8 are also provided atop the ball 24 being slidablyreceived on the lift rod 32 and interposed between the ball 24 and thelower surface 33 of the guide 18. As presently constructed, thearresting means comprises a perforated hollow cylinder loosely receivedon the rod 32, which cylinder is open at its lower end and has a chamber62 therein large enough to receive the valve disc 46. The lower annularedge 64 of this cylinder 6i! is adapted to engage the upper end of thetank ball 46 for a purpose which will become clear hereinafter. Thecylinder |56 is maintained in a vertical relationship on the lift rod 32by means of the alignment spring 66 contained in the chamber 62.

During conventional operation, the auxiliary valve 44 remains closedduring ushing and the ball 24 operates` not unlike any other tank ball.Y The discharge valve' is normally seated as shown in FIG. l, thusclosing the outlet 12. When the handle 26 is rotated counterclock-` wiseslightly and then released, the ball 24 will be un-` seated and the airnormally trapped therein will cause the ball to rise in the tank waterdue to its buoyancy,`

the lift rod 32 sliding upwardly in the stationary guide 18 so as tokeep the ball upright and maintain` such` i pressed as shown in FlG. 3.

buoyancy. The guide ll will of course stop the ball Y when the arrestingmeans 58, carried by the lift rod 32 reaches the lower surface 33 of theguide. When the level of the water in the tank reeedes suiciently, theball will float downwardly returning to its seat 22, but only aftersubstantially all the water in the tank has been discharged therefrom.Thus, a water Closet tank of the present invention will operate in theconventional manner in a full flushing operation.

In keeping with the construction disclosed herein, the ball 24 can bereturned .to its seat 22 before the water has been substantially alldischarged from the tank. By holding the handle 26 in a'predeterminedposition, corresponding to afull counterclockwise position the arrestingcylinder 6@ is forced upwardly against the lower surface of the guideSlg, the spring 66 being readily com- Maintaining this force on thehandle will cause :the annular edge 6d of the cylinder to contact theupper end of the tank ball and will compress the spring 50 as shown soas to unseat the valve disc 46 from its seat on the tank ball. Thus thetechnique for operating the auxiliary valve i4 consists in yholding thehandle V26 in some predetermined position where the tank ball is raisedagainst the arresting means 58 and the bias of the spring Sil isovercome by the upward pull on the lift rod 32 so as to unseat the valvedisc d6. Y

When this predetermined position of the handle is held by the operator,air will bc vented from lthe hollow tank ball through holes 6i, 61 inthe side walls of the cylinder 6h and 'through the space between thelift rod 32 and the upper end of the cylinder d@ as indicated by thearrows of FIG. 3. As the air in the ball escapes upwardly into thewater, the space it had occupied in the ball will be replaced by tankwater entering through the open bottom of the ball. Thus the buoyancy ofthe ball is reduced to the point desired, and upon release yof thehandle the ball will sink at a desired rate to reseat itself on thedischarge valve seat 22. The sinking tank ball will of course seatitself more promptly than would a tank ball floating in the tank waterand consequently the amount of water used `in flushing is reduced.

In operating this device the presently preferred practice is to depressthe handle to the full counterclockwise position opening the dischargeand auxiliary valves as above. The operator observes the condition ofthe water closet bowl and releases the handle when he is satisfied that:the waste products have been disposed of. ln this manner he will havedestroyed the buoyancy of the tank ball and upon release of the handlethe ball will sink and close the outlet conserving the remaining waterin the tank for a subsequent flush. lt should be noted that retainingthe above predetermined position of the handle as all the water isdischarged from the tank will result in Van alternative full flush,equivalent to the conventional operation described heretofore. It shouldbe further noted that after either a partial flush or a conventionalfull flush the valve Vdisc 46 will automatically reseat and the tank lllwill be refilled with makeup water in a conventional manner. The handlemay then be operated in any of the heretofore described modes with nonecessity for manual resetting of any component. An infinite variety ofdegrees of flushing is always possible. f

The arresting means 58 which serves to open the auxiliary valve 44 asaforesaid, also serves as a shock absorber during conventional operationof the discharge valve. When the buoyant tank ball is unseated byactuation of the handle, the ball will rise rapidly until it is stoppedby the action of the guide lower surface 33 against the cylinder 60.This impact could momentarily unseat the valve ad were it not for thealignment spring d5. The spring 66 serves to lessen the impact felt bythe tank ball :thus assuring that the valve iftis not inadvertentlyopened during a normal full flushing operation.

FlGS. 4 and 5 show alternative embodiments provided Within the scope ofthe present invention. In FIG. 4 the valve stem of the previousembodiment is in the form of a hollow tube 43a attached to the valvedisc 46a in any convenient manner such as by silver soldering or thelike. The tube Ltda has a flanged lower end portion against which thespring Sila acts. As shown, the tube 43a may fit rather snugly in thevalve opening 42a if the tube is perforated as shown by the holes 49, 49in the tube wall. These holes 4&3, nl have an additional func'- tion inthat they also serve to help break any residual vacuum in the upper partof the tank ball chamber following a partial flush. Such a residualvacuum is not possible in the ball disclosed, but could result if theopening 25 were too small in a particular design. The hollow v stem d8aand holes 49, 49 would prevent adverse effects ron conventional fullflushing in such an event.

FllG. 5 shows a third construction of the valve stem. instead of the rodtype stem d3 of FlG. 2, a flaredrupper end portion is provided on thevalve stem 4Sb of FIG. 5 to permit metering of the air flowing throughthe valve by the degree of opening achieved by the lift rod 32h.

As shown in :these embodiments of the valve stem, it must be looselyreceived in the valve opening. However, the fit must be snug enough toproperly guide the tank ball onto the outlet l2. A further renner-nentnot shown in the drawings would be to use a substantially square valve4stem in the circular opening 42, achieving a passageway for escapingair without affecting the orientation of the ball.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a water closet tank having an outlet, a discharge valve comprisingan open bottom hollow buoyant ballV for seating upon and closing theoutlet, means for operating the discharge valve including a handlesupported on the tank and a lift rod connected therewith and with theball, and a stationary guide for the lift rod, the improvementcomprising an auxiliary valve means mounted on said ball and connectedwith said handle to vent the valve ball only when said handle is placedin a predetermined position after lifting said valve ball, the'ventingof the ball being effective to reduce its buoyancy whereby to cause itto close the outlet more promptly upon release of the handle and thusreducing the amount of water used in flushing. i Y

2. A water closet tank construction as set forth in claim 1 wherein theauxiliary valve means comprises a valve carried on the lift rod andmovable therewith to open and close a veut opening in the ball, meansbiasing said auxiliary valve and lift rod relative .to the ball normallyto close the vent opening, means engageable with the guide to limitlifting movement of the ball While permitting continued lifting movementof the rod whereby to open the vent opening in the said predeterminedposition of the handle.

3. In a water closet tank having an outlet, a discharge valve comprisinga hollow buoyant tank ball open at the bottom and with a lower endportion surrounding said open bottom and adapted :to seat upon and closethe tank outlet, means for operating the discharge valve including ahandle supported on the tank and a lift rod connected therewith and withthe ball, and a stationary guide for the lift rod tto assure properseating of the ball following actuation of the handle and to limit theupward travel of the ball due to its buoyancy, the improvementcomprising an auxiliary valve means to vent the ball when said handle isplaced in a predetermined position, said auxiliary valve means includinga valve disc attached to :the lift rod at the lower end thereof, anupper end of said tank ball defining a vent opening therein and alsodefining a seat for said valve disc, a downwardly extending valve stemattached to the valve disc and extending loosely through the ventopening into the hollow tank ball, a spring means carried by said valvestem and acting between the lower end thereof and the upper end of saidtank ball whereby to urge the valve disc against its seat, arrestingmeans interposed between the stationary litt rod 4guide and the tanltball to limit the upward movement of the buoyant tank ball,

which arresting means additionally permits the lift rod and valve discto continue upwardly as the handle is placed insaid predeterminedposition whereby to open the auxiliary valve means against the bias ofsaid spring, the venting of said ball achieved thereby being eliectiveto reduce its buoyancy and cause it to sink in the tank water and closethe outlet more promptly upon release of the handle and thus reducingthe amount of water used in flushing.

4. A water closet tank construction as set forth in claim 3 wherein thearresting means comprises a perforated hollow cylinder loosely receivedon the lift rod and having a lower end portion defining an opening atleast large enough yto receive the valve disc attached to the lov/er endof said rod, an annular lower edge on the cylinder to contact the tankball limiting its upward motion while permitting the lift rod and valvedisc to continue upwardly when the handle is placed in saidpredetermined position, thus opening the auxiliary valveand also vproviding a path for the air in the tank ball to escape therefrom. i

5. A water closet .tankconstruction as set forth in claim 4 wherein thehollow cylinder houses an alignment i spring which spring also serves tolessen the impact of said tank ball against saidilift rod guide, thusassuring that the auxiliary valve is not inadvertently opened during anormal flushing oper-ation due to said impact but rather is opened onlywhen said handle is placed in said `predetermined position,

` and adjacent the lower end of said lift rod, said auxiliary valveincluding means engageaole with a means external to the ball valve onopening movement of the same and v operable to vent and to at leastsubstantially reduce the e buoyancy of the ball valve.

7. The combination of a buoyant open bottom ball valve adapted forupward and downward movement for respectively opening and closing theoutlet of a water closet tanlr, a lift rod connected to said ball and`to a handle for manually lifting said ball to open said outlet,

auxiliary valve means mounted on said ball adjacent the `lower end ofsaid lift rod to vent the valve ball only when said handleis placed inapredetermined position after listing said ball valve.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said auxiliary valve meansincludes `meansrengageable with a means external to the ball valvewhereby placing said handle in said vpredetermined position opens saidauxiliary valve to l l buoyancy, the improvement comprising an auxiliaryvalve means mounted on said ball to vent thevalve ball only when saidhandle is placed in a predetermined position after lifting said valveball, said auxiliary valve means including means engageable with saidball travel limiting means whereby placing rsaid handle in saidpredetermined position opens said auxiliary valve to vent said ballreducing its buoyancy.

' References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS s/59 Hartman 457 ana/Aan v. BENHAM, Primary Examiner..

4/56 christie 4457

1. IN A WATER CLOSET TANK HAVING AN OUTLET, A DISCHARGE VALVE COMPRISINGAN OPEN BOTTOM HOLLOW BUOYANT BALL FOR SEATING UPON AND CLOSING THEOUTLET, MEANS FOR OPERATING THE DISCHARGE VALVE INCLUDING A HANDLESUPPORTED ON THE TANK AND A LIFT ROD CONNECTED THEREWITH AND WITH THEBALL, AND A STATIONARY GUIDE FOR THE LIFT ROD, THE IMPROVEMENTCOMPRISING AN AUXILIARY VALVE MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID BALL AND CONNECTEDWITH SAID HANDLE TO VENT THE VALVE BALL ONLY WHEN SAID HANDLE IS PLACEDIN A PREDETERMINED POSITION AFTER LIFTING SAID VALVE BALL, THE VENTINGOF THE BALL BEING EFFECTIVE TO REDUCE ITS BUOYANCY WHEREBY TO CAUSE ITTO CLOSE THE OUTLET MORE PROMTPLY UPON RELEASE OF THE HANDLE AND THUSREDUCING THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED IN FLUSHING.